EDITORIAL: When FWC runs out of options

Published: Thursday, July 10, 2014 at 09:35 AM.

Call it the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s last resort, its final option when all other ideas have been tried and failed.

Last week, FWC employees captured a bear that had roamed into Shalimar, euthanized it and buried it.

“This bear had a real bent on coming back into urban areas,” said FWC spokesman Stan Kirkland. “There wasn’t anything else we could do.”

The killing of the 350-pound adult male bear ignited predictable outrage in social media, with the Daily News’ Facebook friends branding it “stupid,” “heartbreaking” and “appalling,” but it appears the FWC had no choice.

The bear’s story began well east of here. It wandered into a Panama City neighborhood and was captured April 14, then relocated about 90 miles distant.

The bear wouldn’t stay away. It was back in the same neighborhood three weeks later. This time, authorities took it to the Eglin Air Force Base reservation.

When the bear showed up June 30 at the Shalimar Yacht Basin, it was clear the animal had lost all fear of humans.

And a bear that doesn’t fear humans — and, worse, won’t stay away from humans — is a problem.

A bear that doesn’t fear humans mauled a woman April 12 in the driveway of her home in Lake Mary, east of Orlando. That incident and an earlier one — a woman attacked in December while walking her dog — prompted the FWC to track down and kill at least a half-dozen bears that had become way too comfortable in Central Florida’s urban settings.

We’d rather not see a mass killing of bears here in Northwest Florida. That’s why we’ve urged the FWC to proceed with its long-planned bear census, so that it can get a better idea of the bear population’s size and how to manage it.

In the meantime, we understand the FWC’s exercise of its final option after a twice-relocated bear turned up in Shalimar last week. As one resident said on Facebook, “Though bear attacks are exceedingly rare, they are right to prioritize human safety.”

Who could disagree with that?

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Call it the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s last resort, its final option when all other ideas have been tried and failed.

Last week, FWC employees captured a bear that had roamed into Shalimar, euthanized it and buried it.

“This bear had a real bent on coming back into urban areas,” said FWC spokesman Stan Kirkland. “There wasn’t anything else we could do.”

The killing of the 350-pound adult male bear ignited predictable outrage in social media, with the Daily News’ Facebook friends branding it “stupid,” “heartbreaking” and “appalling,” but it appears the FWC had no choice.

The bear’s story began well east of here. It wandered into a Panama City neighborhood and was captured April 14, then relocated about 90 miles distant.

The bear wouldn’t stay away. It was back in the same neighborhood three weeks later. This time, authorities took it to the Eglin Air Force Base reservation.

When the bear showed up June 30 at the Shalimar Yacht Basin, it was clear the animal had lost all fear of humans.

And a bear that doesn’t fear humans — and, worse, won’t stay away from humans — is a problem.

A bear that doesn’t fear humans mauled a woman April 12 in the driveway of her home in Lake Mary, east of Orlando. That incident and an earlier one — a woman attacked in December while walking her dog — prompted the FWC to track down and kill at least a half-dozen bears that had become way too comfortable in Central Florida’s urban settings.

We’d rather not see a mass killing of bears here in Northwest Florida. That’s why we’ve urged the FWC to proceed with its long-planned bear census, so that it can get a better idea of the bear population’s size and how to manage it.

In the meantime, we understand the FWC’s exercise of its final option after a twice-relocated bear turned up in Shalimar last week. As one resident said on Facebook, “Though bear attacks are exceedingly rare, they are right to prioritize human safety.”